all evacuated about an hour, 90 minutes into it. >> and what do you say to the workers hanging around? >> it's -- [ indiscernible ] people have to be part and our hope and expectation is that tomorrow morning we'll be open for business and making great tv again. >> and curious -- [ indiscernible ] the media organization. >> well, like -- judge because of the new edition in. >> no, and we're taking -- >> i can answer that? >> yes, sir. >> and we did not know what access he had. we knew he was in touch with a news organization in new york and didn't know if he had access to the internet or to tv. obviously, everything ongoing, we didn't want him to be aware of and that was for everybody's safety. >> and that is an active

investigation. we want to be cautious and prudent in the comments we make. we're working closely with law enforcement and we'll take directions from them. and i think it's important we get all the facts and the priority's going to be nurturing and responding to employee needs with the coming days as if this is a scary event. it is and i'm proud of the discovery's family and what makes thissy great company is the culture of the place and it's a very loyal, comprehensive, cooperative and fun place to work with a lot of great people, and that strength came through today. >> you can address the 2008 arrest, please? >> good evening, i wanted to give you an update now that the law enforcement -- [ indiscernible ] those at the

courtroom scene are firing explosives, investigative session will now begin very methodical work to look at potential devices that are still in the building or around the building and with me right now is the battalion chief kevin frazier, in charge of the explosive section from montgomery fire and county rescue and i will ask him if he will provide a framework of what the steps are going to be. >> my name's kevin frazier, i'm a battalion chief. the mop groomery county bomb squad in coordination with multiple bomb squads from the washington metropolitan region are going to methodically go through the discovery building and identify all the suspicious items we need to review and evaluate. after the evaluation, we'll come up with plans to defeat the items if need be or clear the items as if they were not

dangerous at all and at this time, we're in a campaign mold and going utilize as much time as we need. i don't have a definitive timeline and that is the operations currently with the bomb squad and in an sprayingal standpoint. >> and with -- that happened. did it hurt him more? >> all we know at this time is that there was an event and we can't conclude what that event was and why the device went off. we're trying to determine what occurred there. >> and -- >> at this time, i was not in view of it, so i can't comment on that. [ overlapping speakers ] >> was it one shot? >> i'm sorry, what was the question? >> how many shots?

>> i don't know yet. that is under investigation. >> can you address this arrest in 2008, please? >> the suspect in this case was arrested have the of a protest, i guess. the discovery in february of 2008, and the result of that arrest, he was charged with disorderly conduct and he was convicted and served a 10-day sentence for disorderly conduct for the protest that he had organized here. he was essentially taking homeless individuals and paying them sums of money to protest along with them at the site of the building and as a condition of the probation in august of 2008, he was ordered to stay at least now hundred feet away -- 500 feet away from the discovery building. his probation ended two week ago. >> david, do you -- [ question indiscernible ] -- to come to work tomorrow morning? >> we'll be communicating with employees later tonight. it's our hope we can get back to business tomorrow and it's

an active crime scene and we'll take our direction from law enforcement. >> is this the first time in the past few weeks? >> at this time, we need to get back to the command post. we thank you all very much and that concludes the briefing for this evening. the pios for montgomery county police and mont groomery county rescue will be back in touch. thank you. >> perfect. >> you have been listening to a press conference and what they're calling a successful end to a hostage situation at discovery communications in silver spring, maryland. the gunman, james lee, police shot and killed him and he's dead. the three hostages he was holding inside are safe and thank you for joining us tonight on the news edge at 6. >> the news edge at 6 starts right now. >> one bullet from a police

sniper. that took the life and that shot rang out an hour ago and some sort of explosive device went off. >> that's right, james lee took hostages, he was waiving a hand bomb and had two pipe bombs. all of the hostages are safe and our team coverage has the latest. >> reporter: one thing we heard interestingly frommion mccarthy there is that that probation period that -- ended two weeks ago and we have a mug shot to show you two years ago, when he was arrested on disorderly conduct charges outside of discovery headquarters and there is his mug shot. he was in the middle of the a

weeklong, 12-day protest and basically saying he was trying to get them to save the planet. he was charged and found guilty, acted at his -- as his own attorney and said his goal was to change the programming on the network of broadcasting channels. there he is at a more peaceful protest two years ago and we have youtube video of something that got him arrested and he apparently had a duffing -- duffle bag filled with $21,000 in cash and started throwing it in the air. he was paying homeless people to stand with him so it was not a loan protest outside of the

building he was 43 years old, from san diego and originally from mao hawaii where he inherited family property. he had some money, although when he was in this area, he reported his address as a local homeless shelter and among his beefs with discovery was some of their programming he want ding -- didn't think took on the issue of environmental causes more seriously than they do. he was fired from his job in san diego 2 1/2 years ago and said he was influenced by the documentary produced by al gore called "an unconvenient truth" and that is what set him off on his way to try to raise awareness on the environment and was ordered to stay away from the building for two years and that period ending two weeks ago. he went in and took three

hostages and was shot dead this afternoon. >> thank you for the update. we heard a press conference, fairly concise and wrapped up all the details from the authorities in the scene and in the background, you probably heard our own paul wagner asking a few questions as well. what stuck out to you as you listened to the press conference and heard the last several hours debriefed for us? >> reporter: i think what stood out, brian, they had a tactical unit nearby and could watch him via a surivallance camera and they could hear him. very, very important because that being hear whether or not there was a problem between the hostages and mr. lee. when they saw him pull the pistol, they busted through the door and the chief said they were in an area where that

could bust through and open fire. there was an event, the fire department not believing it was an explosion and it's unclear if it killed him. the chief said that mr. lee pulled a gun and that looks like he was trying to threaten one of the hostages and there is some some question as to whether or not the gun went off and that is under investigation and as soon as the tactical units made entry, the hostages took off and we understand they were two employees and a security guard. all male, they're all okay. they going to have to question the hostages to get a better understanding what was happening inside and perhaps some things that went on that the unit could not see or here and just a few moments ago, i grabbed john mcanothery to ask

him a few more thing about mr. lee. he said after mr. lee was arrested in 2008, the judge ordered a psychiatric exam and at that point, the stat's attorney told me that nothing else happened, the psyche exam was done and that since the defense did not bring it up, nothing else happened and he said to his knowledge, he's not been spending any time in any mental smogs and described mr. lee as being homeless, that he's been staying at a number of homeless shelters around this area and that, as you did hear towards the end of the news conference, this is ironic, mr. lee abided by the rule to stay away from the discovery channel in his probation, which ended two weeks ago. the question is, did mr.ly come into this -- mr. lee come into this area and the property the last two weeks, that is unclear

at this point and he was not violating the probation. it's ironic it happened two weeks after his probation. >> he is dead and the hostages are safe. this is not over for police. what is next in. >> i spoke with one of the battalion chiefs had and got more from him. it's going to take a long time. they have the prince georges county bomb squad, the fbi bomb squad, virginia state police, maryland state police and d.c. bomb squad is here as well and helping out. they're going be in full armor, going through the buildings. they'll have bomb-sniffing dogs. that'll have all of the tools necessary to go through the building and to make sure that they can render it safe. he said they going to look at everything, anything that is suspicious to see if perhaps something got into the building that they're unaware of and that is going to take a long

time. it's a big, big building, 1900 employees inside and takes up a block, block and a half here and in downtown silver spring. at this point, it's going to take more work to get the employees back into the building to get their belongings. that was another one of the questions and there is a lot of belonging inside the building. they can't get in their cars, keys, purses or wallets, anything they left behind and it's going to be a long night for them and nobody's going to be able to get back in there until the police render it safe. brian and shawn? >> thank you. the hostage situation didn't -- and some very young children and the worried moms and dads. >> the first -- in that day care center. they were evacuated. beth parker is live now with more. you witnessed this firsthand. >> reporter: we did, shawn, and

this is something that will stick with me for a long time and watching the cribs rolled with the kids in them and another image, the mother struggling with the unknown. >> okay. plough please. >> reporter: a parent terrified and not willing to take a police officer's word that her child is okay. he had to see for himself, too. >> and -- >> from the moment the phone rang, murray was rushing. >> my wife called me, she was walking into the building and there was a hostage situation in the lobby and a lot of people were helping out. >> reporter: strangers cleared

a path for cribs carrying babies as the day care center was evacuated, unknowing children riding long through the chaos that surrounded them. that day care center is on the lower floor of the building in that area where the blue mural is and the website thasaid that day care center accommodates 90 kids and we're happy to report that all of them got out safely. >> back to you. >> thank you. and a lot of parents can relate and put themselves into the shoes. >> yeah. >> i saw a fire drill into my child's day care and saw them put my child and many babies rolled out the door and this is -- that was a drill but this is no drill. the discovery channel building, 1900 workers are employed there and helps were on the site. >> the evacuation all this afternoon, there was concern that some workers were

on the upper floors. tom fitzgerald is here with the latest on the e vaciz -- evacuation. >> to every one of the employees we spoke with are crediting the evacuation and notice and prior lock don notice with saving leafs here today and many people tell us in a building this large, it was impossible it hear what was going in the lobby and they first heard what was going on when the emergency alert text went out and that came after 1:00 p.m. and that is moments after the incident began to unfold and at that point, we're told, discovery had in place a plan and entailed floor captains to take command of the building and getting into action and telling employees what they were to do and that is to close

their doors and it were out their lights and shelter in place. the best, that went on for 10 to 15 minutes and in that teal, security had identified means of evacuating the building and that would take employees out of the building and get out of the path of the gunman and at that point, floor yew floor, the 1900 employees that work in this building, proceeded to evacuate and that they left behind everything they had. the main goal office to get out and to get out safely. and we spoke with discovery communications chief public affairs spokesman earlier and he said he can't thank montgomery county police, inspire emergency personnel enough and they said they

worked on this plan with officials and to their mind at this point, everything went according to plan, according to their plan and which is tooy go people to shelter and in place and at the point it was determined where they could safely evacuate, that is whaty that did. one of the images that is going to be burned in the memory standing here and seeing that line of which were that you referenced this afternoon. babies sitting in the cribs, literally thumbs in mouth, looking up at us and not knowing what was going on and later, learning what was in mr. lee's manifesto and what he thought of young children and many here breathing a sigh of relief and that whatever designs he had on small children, he was not able to carry through. back to you. >> thank you for that.

>> to recap tonight, james lee from all accounts, homeless the last few months, perhaps living in our area, walked into the discovery channel headquarters and before 1:00 today, he had a silver handgun and two pipe bombs strapped to his body and other explosives in backpacks, took three people hostage, one security guard and two other males, three men in all and before 5:00 after police had been negotiating with the person for some time, it appears to the police that james lee waved the hand team was in her -- there and struck him dead with one of the bullets. the authorities are combing the discovery county building and making sure it's safe from all of the explosives and all the

people are safe and sound, housing 1900 people as you heard, a day care on the first floor and a wild fanny festo with this meanman who had a beef with them -- a wile manifesto. two weeks ago, came off of supervised probation and two weeks later, walked into the lobby of the discovery channel headquarters, his last time and police opened fire killing james lee. >> our coverage continues after the short break.

>> tracking the tropics now, a little thing called hurricane earl is no longer a little thing. it's a category 4 hurricane and north carolina is under a hurricane warning and our beaches are second in line after north carolina to get a brush from this. >> that's right, i know some areas down to north carolina along the coast line have

already been evacuated and they're keeping an eye as this comes up the east coast. a lot of people have vacation plans this weekend. our team of forecasters, the storm force are keeping a close eye on things and this is a busy weekend for folks to go to the beach. >> from the last hurricane, that had nothing to do with this and there were 250 rescues at the beaches on saturday alone. and, of course, the potential is that once it goes by and bushes us, stays out to sea, people will be at the beaches for the long holiday weekend. >> and that is right. more rip tides possible. >> and i know you had a busy afternoon and hurricane earl strengthened with winds of 135 miles per hour and wakened a

bit. we're watching this front and earl is back to a cat 4 and this is about 630 miles southeast of cape hatteras and they going to get a close call with him. it's shift closer to the coast and hope it's going to be a better night. the center should be offshore and is going to be close to the outer banks. we estimate right now that it passes ocean city roughly 150 to 200 miles off the coast and tropical storm-force conditions are expected there and, in fact, i want to go straight over to our vipir system and show you all the watches and warnings that are up and for our coast now, we have hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings. that goes from the virginia-ing in income border to you in new jersey and in the red, they're hurricane warnings. in and around d.c., we're not going to see much and we'll get breezes and a few clouds and

that is going to continue. this is.and what we're showing you are the hurricane-force winds and the tropical storm- force winds and look at the time. tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m., the cape hatteras area is getting in on hurricane-force winds and tropical storm-force winds. in the morning, getting closer to ocean city. by tomorrow afternoon, 2:00 p.m. into friday and i realize it's wednesday, 2:00 p.m. on friday, ocean city, getting tropical storm-force winds over 40 miles an hour and 5 to 8- foot winds off the coast and do we have time to go to radar? if not, i understand. i want you to see the huge waves, 32-foot waves in our region and off the coast and there is a lot to talk about this and this is back to max 2. hot today, 97 degrees, a warm

one tomorrow and earl is going to help cool us off. breezy for saturday into the labor day weekend and temperatures dropping into the low 80s. definitely batten down the hatches at the beaches and hope that does not wobble 30 miles closer to the coast and that could still happen. >> and -- >> sue, to reiterate here, as far as the riptides go. >> yes. >> how soon after earl passes the area will the waves calm down? >> that is an excellent question. was talking with will thomas about that, too and he's out at ocean city. the worst time is going to be late thursday night and into friday. i think the seas calm down friday afternoon and they will probably not be safe until sunday and that is not only has tropical storm fiona gotten stronger but another tropical storm formed today, tropical storm gaston. the seas will be better by saturday night and i personally think the water won't be safe

this weekend, maybe not until monday. >> thank you, sue. a quick recap on the situation that happened earlier in silver spring. a gunman, james lee, walked into the discovery communications headquarters in silver spring and he was armed with a handgun and several devices that are believed to be bombs. he took several people hostage. we learned around, shortly before 5:00, the police shot and killed him and the hostages are free and they're safe. >> 1900 people work at discovery channel. hundreds in the building at the time. three taken hostage. including a security guard, a child day care center in the bottom. and everybody is safe in that building. the gunman dead. the latest tonight and the fox 5 news at 10. 

no oil has flowed into the gulf for weeks, but it's just the beginning of our work. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed.

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